Image and Video Compression for Remote Vehicle Assistance

ABSTRACT

A vehicle may receive one or more images of an environment of the vehicle. The vehicle may also receive a map of the environment. The vehicle may also match at least one feature in the one or more images with corresponding one or more features in the map. The vehicle may also identify a given area in the one or more images that corresponds to a a portion of the map that is within a threshold distance to the one or more features. The vehicle may also compress the one or more images to include a lower amount of details in areas of the one or more images other than the given area. The vehicle may also provide the compressed images to a remote system, and responsively receive operation instructions from the remote system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/747,380 filed Jan. 20, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/684,099 filed Aug. 23, 2017 and issued as U.S.Pat. No. 10,621,451 on Apr. 14, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/173,347 filed Jun. 3, 2016 and issued as U.S.Pat. No. 9,767,369 on Sep. 19, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/249,611 filed Apr. 10, 2014 and issued as U.S.Pat. No. 9,384,402 on Jul. 5, 2016, the contents of each of which areentirely incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth in thisapplication.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in thissection are not prior art to the claims in this application and are notadmitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

A vehicle could be any wheeled, powered vehicle and may include a car,truck, motorcycle, bus, etc. Vehicles can be utilized for various taskssuch as transportation of people and goods, as well as many other uses.

Some vehicles may be partially or fully autonomous. For instance, when avehicle is in an autonomous mode, some or all of the driving aspects ofvehicle operation can be handled by a vehicle control system. In suchcases, computing devices located on board and/or in a server networkcould be operable to carry out functions such as planning a drivingroute, sensing aspects of the vehicle, sensing the environment of thevehicle, and controlling drive components such as steering, throttle,and brake. Thus, autonomous vehicles may reduce or eliminate the needfor human interaction in various aspects of vehicle operation.

SUMMARY

In one example, a method is provided that comprises a vehicle receivingone or more images of an environment of the vehicle. The method furthercomprises the vehicle receiving a map of the environment. The methodfurther comprises matching at least one feature in the one or moreimages with corresponding one or more features in the map. The methodfurther comprises identifying a given area in the one or more imagesthat corresponds to a portion of the map that is within a thresholddistance to the one or more features. The method further comprises thevehicle compressing the one or more images to include a lower amount ofdetails in areas of the one or more images other than the given area.The method further comprises the vehicle providing the compressed imagesto a remote system. The method further comprises receiving operationinstructions for the vehicle from the remote system responsive toproviding the compressed images.

In another example, a vehicle is provided that includes a camera coupledto the vehicle and configured to capture one or more images of anenvironment of the vehicle. The vehicle also includes one or moreprocessors and data storage configured to store instructions executableby the one or more processors. The instructions may cause the vehicle toobtain the one or more images of the environment from the camera. Theinstructions may further cause the vehicle to receive a map of theenvironment. The instructions may further cause the vehicle to match atleast one feature in the one or more images with corresponding one ormore features in the map. The instructions may further cause the vehicleto identify a given area in the one or more images that corresponds to aportion of the map that is within a threshold distance to the one ormore features. The instructions may further cause the vehicle tocompress the one or more images to include a lower amount of details inareas of the one or more images other than the given area. Theinstructions may further cause the vehicle to provide the compressedimages to a remote system. The instructions may further cause thevehicle to receive operation instructions for the vehicle from theremote system responsive to providing the compressed images.

In yet another example, a non-transitory computer readable medium isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable medium may haveinstructions stored therein that when executed by a device, cause thedevice to perform functions. The functions comprise receiving one ormore images of an environment of the device. The functions furthercomprise receiving a map of the environment. The functions furthercomprise matching at least one feature in the one or more images withcorresponding one or more features in the map. The functions furthercomprise identifying a given area in the one or more images thatcorresponds to a portion of the map that is within a threshold distanceto the one or more features. The functions further comprise compressingthe one or more images to include a lower amount of details in areas ofthe one or more images other than the given area. The functions furthercomprise providing the compressed images to a remote system. Thefunctions further comprise receiving operation instructions for thedevice from the remote system responsive to providing the compressedimages.

In still another example, a system is provided comprising a means forreceiving one or more images of an environment of a vehicle. The systemalso comprises a means for receiving a map of the environment. Thesystem also comprises a means for matching at least one feature in theone or more images with corresponding one or more features in the map.The system also comprises a means for identifying a given area in theone or more images that corresponds to a portion of the map that iswithin a threshold distance to the one or more features. The system alsocomprises a means for compressing the one or more images to include alower amount of details in areas of the one or more images other thanthe given area. The system also comprises a means for providing thecompressed images to a remote system. The system also comprises a meansfor receiving operation instructions for the vehicle from the remotesystem responsive to providing the compressed images.

These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives, willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading thefollowing detailed description, with reference where appropriate to theaccompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a vehicle, accordingto an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a vehicle, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4A illustrates a map of an environment, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 4B illustrates a portion of the map of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5A illustrates an image captured by a camera coupled to a vehicle,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5B illustrates a compressed image, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 5C illustrates another compressed image, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 6 depicts an example computer readable medium configured accordingto an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description describes various features andfunctions of the disclosed systems and methods with reference to theaccompanying figures. In the figures, similar symbols identify similarcomponents, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative system,device and method embodiments described herein are not meant to belimiting. It may be readily understood by those skilled in the art thatcertain aspects of the disclosed systems, devices and methods can bearranged and combined in a wide variety of different configurations, allof which are contemplated herein.

The present disclosure provides methods and apparatuses that improveoperation of a partially or fully autonomous vehicle by receivingoperation instructions from a remote system that includes humanoperators or computer operators. Specifically, the vehicle may providesensor data, such as images or video streams of an environment of thevehicle, to the remote system. In turn, the remote system may aid thevehicle in detecting or classifying objects and driving situations inthe environment of the vehicle. For example, the remote system mayprovide operation instructions for a control system that operates thevehicle based on the sensor data from the vehicle. Thus, for example,the vehicle may benefit from decision-making ability of a human operatoror a more powerful computing system to overcome challenging drivingscenarios.

An example of an unusual driving scenario is as follows. A gardeningcrew may be parked on a side of a narrow two-lane road, blocking one ofthe two lanes. The gardening crew may not be part of a normalclassification that the vehicle may perform during typical operation.Further, crew members may be trying to direct traffic around thegardening crew's vehicle (so that oncoming traffic and outgoing trafficshare the one open lane). The crewmember may be holding out his or herhand to signal one side of traffic to stop. The vehicle in this scenariomay detect the outstretched arm but may not know whether that indicatessomeone walking in the road or directing traffic. In such a case, thevehicle may detect that this is likely an unusual event and send acamera image (or other sensor data) to the remote system that couldanalyze the situation and provide operation instructions for thevehicle. For example, the remote system may instruct the vehicle to stopand wait for the vehicle's turn to use the one lane. Thus, in thisscenario, the overall system may ensure safe operation of the vehicle.

In an example arrangement, communicating the sensor data reliably fromthe vehicle to the remote system may be prohibited by bandwidthlimitations or other data connection limitations. Additionally, in someexamples, the remote system may only need a portion of the sensor datathat is relevant to an immediate vicinity of the vehicle or the roadtraveled by the vehicle.

Within examples, methods and devices are provided for compressing sensordata pertaining to an environment of a vehicle prior to transmitting thesensor data for processing by a remote system. In one example, thevehicle may receive an image of the environment from a camera coupled tothe vehicle. Additionally, in the example, the vehicle may obtain a mapof the environment, such as a detailed map of the road. The detailed mapmay, for example, include synthetic intensity and imagery tiles and/or asymbolic representation of a road network called a “roadgraph.” The map,for example, may include an indication of various features in the road,such as locations and dimensions of street lanes, street signs, or otheridentifying features of the road. In turn, the vehicle may matchfeatures in the image with corresponding features in the map. Further,in the example, the vehicle may identify a given area in the image thatcorresponds to a portion of the map within a threshold distance to thematched features. In the example, the threshold distance may includeareas of interest to the driving situation of the vehicle, such as theroad that the vehicle is traveling on and an immediate vicinity of theroad. Further, in the example, the vehicle may compress the image toinclude a lower amount of details in areas other than the given area.The compressed image, for example, may have a smaller size than acorresponding compressed image of the unaltered received image. Thevehicle may then provide the compressed image to a remote system forfurther processing. In response, for example, the remote system mayprovide operation instructions for the vehicle.

In some embodiments, the functions described herein may be based onsensor data other than optical cameras. For example, the sensor data maybe from various sensors such as radar, laser, or audio sensors. In oneexample, a radar sensor may provide radar data indicating objects in theenvironment of the vehicle, and the disclosed system may remove aportion of the radar data that corresponds with areas other than thegiven area. In another example, a microphone may capture sounds in theenvironment, and the disclosed system may remove a portion of the soundsthat originated from areas other than the given area. Thus, in someexamples, compression of the sensor data as described herein prior totransmission for processing by the remote system may require lowerbandwidth than a transmission that includes the sensor data with anequal level of details in all areas of the environment.

Example systems within the scope of the present disclosure will now bedescribed in greater detail. An example system may be implemented in ormay take the form of an automobile. However, an example system may alsobe implemented in or take the form of other vehicles, such as cars,trucks, motorcycles, buses, boats, airplanes, helicopters, lawn mowers,earth movers, boats, snowmobiles, aircraft, recreational vehicles,amusement park vehicles, farm equipment, construction equipment, trams,golf carts, trains, and trolleys. Other vehicles are possible as well.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a vehicle 100,according to an example embodiment. The vehicle 100 could be configuredto operate fully or partially in an autonomous mode. While in autonomousmode, the vehicle 100 may be configured to operate without humaninteraction. For example, a computer system could control the vehicle100 while in the autonomous mode. As part of operating in the autonomousmode, the vehicle may identify features of the environment around thevehicle. If one or more of the identified features has an associatedconfidence below a confidence threshold, or the computer system needsassistance in making a driving decision, the computer system maytransmit data related to the feature or the environment for furtherprocessing by a remote system. The computer system may then receiveinstructions from either a remote computer or a human operator. Inresponse, the computer system may alter the control of the autonomousvehicle.

The vehicle 100 could include various subsystems such as a propulsionsystem 102, a sensor system 104, a control system 106, one or moreperipherals 108, as well as a power supply 110, a computer system 112, adata storage 114, and a user interface 116. The vehicle 100 may includemore or fewer subsystems and each subsystem could include multipleelements. Further, each of the subsystems and elements of vehicle 100could be interconnected. Thus, one or more of the described functions ofthe vehicle 100 may be divided up into additional functional or physicalcomponents, or combined into fewer functional or physical components. Insome further examples, additional functional and/or physical componentsmay be added to the examples illustrated by FIG. 1.

The propulsion system 102 may include components operable to providepowered motion for the vehicle 100. Depending upon the embodiment, thepropulsion system 102 could include an engine/motor 118, an energysource 119, a transmission 120, and wheels/tires 121. The engine/motor118 could be any combination of an internal combustion engine, anelectric motor, steam engine, Stirling engine. Other motors and/orengines are possible. In some embodiments, the engine/motor 118 may beconfigured to convert energy source 119 into mechanical energy. In someembodiments, the propulsion system 102 could include multiple types ofengines and/or motors. For instance, a gas-electric hybrid car couldinclude a gasoline engine and an electric motor. Other examples arepossible.

The energy source 119 could represent a source of energy that may, infull or in part, power the engine/motor 118. Examples of energy sources119 contemplated within the scope of the present disclosure includegasoline, diesel, other petroleum-based fuels, propane, other compressedgas-based fuels, ethanol, solar panels, batteries, and other sources ofelectrical power. The energy source(s) 119 could additionally oralternatively include any combination of fuel tanks, batteries,capacitors, and/or flywheels. The energy source 118 could also provideenergy for other systems of the vehicle 100.

The transmission 120 could include elements that are operable totransmit mechanical power from the engine/motor 118 to the wheels/tires121. The transmission 120 could include a gearbox, a clutch, adifferential, and a drive shaft. Other components of transmission 120are possible. The drive shafts could include one or more axles thatcould be coupled to the one or more wheels/tires 121.

The wheels/tires 121 of vehicle 100 could be configured in variousformats, including a unicycle, bicycle/motorcycle, tricycle, orcar/truck four-wheel format. Other wheel/tire geometries are possible,such as those including six or more wheels. Any combination of thewheels/tires 121 of vehicle 100 may be operable to rotate differentiallywith respect to other wheels/tires 121. The wheels/tires 121 couldrepresent at least one wheel that is fixedly attached to thetransmission 120 and at least one tire coupled to a rim of the wheelthat could make contact with the driving surface. The wheels/tires 121could include any combination of metal and rubber. Other materials arepossible.

The sensor system 104 may include several elements such as a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) 122, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) 124, aradar 126, a laser rangefinder/LIDAR 128, a camera 130, a steeringsensor 123, and a throttle/brake sensor 125. The sensor system 104 couldalso include other sensors, such as those that may monitor internalsystems of the vehicle 100 (e.g., oxygen monitor, fuel gauge, engine oiltemperature, brake wear, etc.).

The GPS 122 could include a transceiver operable to provide informationregarding the position of the vehicle 100 with respect to the Earth. TheIMU 124 could include a combination of accelerometers and gyroscopes andcould represent any number of systems that sense position andorientation changes of a body based on inertial acceleration.Additionally, the IMU 124 may be able to detect a pitch and yaw of thevehicle 100. The pitch and yaw may be detected while the vehicle isstationary or in motion.

The radar 126 may represent a system that utilizes radio signals tosense objects, and in some cases their speed and heading, within thelocal environment of the vehicle 100. Additionally, the radar 126 mayhave a plurality of antennas configured to transmit and receive radiosignals. The laser rangefinder/LIDAR 128 could include one or more lasersources, a laser scanner, and one or more detectors, among other systemcomponents. The laser rangefinder/LIDAR 128 could be configured tooperate in a coherent mode (e.g., using heterodyne detection) or in anincoherent detection mode. The camera 130 could include one or moredevices configured to capture a plurality of images of the environmentof the vehicle 100. The camera 130 could be a still camera or a videocamera.

The steering sensor 123 may represent a system that senses the steeringangle of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments, the steering sensor 123may measure the angle of the steering wheel itself. In otherembodiments, the steering sensor 123 may measure an electrical signalrepresentative of the angle of the steering wheel. Still, in furtherembodiments, the steering sensor 123 may measure an angle of the wheelsof the vehicle 100. For instance, an angle of the wheels with respect toa forward axis of the vehicle 100 could be sensed. Additionally, in yetfurther embodiments, the steering sensor 123 may measure a combination(or a subset) of the angle of the steering wheel, electrical signalrepresenting the angle of the steering wheel, and the angle of thewheels of vehicle 100.

The throttle/brake sensor 125 may represent a system that senses theposition of either the throttle position or brake position of thevehicle 100. In some embodiments, separate sensors may measure thethrottle position and brake position. In some embodiments, thethrottle/brake sensor 125 may measure the angle of both the gas pedal(throttle) and brake pedal. In other embodiments, the throttle/brakesensor 125 may measure an electrical signal that could represent, forinstance, an angle of a gas pedal (throttle) and/or an angle of a brakepedal. Still, in further embodiments, the throttle/brake sensor 125 maymeasure an angle of a throttle body of the vehicle 100. The throttlebody may include part of the physical mechanism that provides modulationof the energy source 119 to the engine/motor 118 (e.g., a butterflyvalve or carburetor). Additionally, the throttle/brake sensor 125 maymeasure a pressure of one or more brake pads on a rotor of vehicle 100.In yet further embodiments, the throttle/brake sensor 125 may measure acombination (or a subset) of the angle of the gas pedal (throttle) andbrake pedal, electrical signal representing the angle of the gas pedal(throttle) and brake pedal, the angle of the throttle body, and thepressure that at least one brake pad is applying to a rotor of vehicle100. In other embodiments, the throttle/brake sensor 125 could beconfigured to measure a pressure applied to a pedal of the vehicle, suchas a throttle or brake pedal.

The control system 106 could include various elements include steeringunit 132, throttle 134, brake unit 136, a sensor fusion algorithm 138, acomputer vision system 140, a navigation/pathing system 142, and anobstacle avoidance system 144. The steering unit 132 could represent anycombination of mechanisms that may be operable to adjust the heading ofvehicle 100. The throttle 134 could control, for instance, the operatingspeed of the engine/motor 118 and thus control the speed of the vehicle100. The brake unit 136 could be operable to decelerate the vehicle 100.The brake unit 136 could use friction to slow the wheels/tires 121. Inother embodiments, the brake unit 136 could convert the kinetic energyof the wheels/tires 121 to electric current.

A sensor fusion algorithm 138 could include, for instance, a Kalmanfilter, Bayesian network, or other algorithm that may accept data fromsensor system 104 as input. The sensor fusion algorithm 138 couldprovide various assessments based on the sensor data. Depending upon theembodiment, the assessments could include evaluations of individualobjects and/or features, evaluation of a particular situation, and/orevaluate possible impacts based on the particular situation. Otherassessments are possible.

The computer vision system 140 could include hardware and softwareoperable to process and analyze images in an effort to determineobjects, important environmental features (e.g., stop lights, road wayboundaries, etc.), and obstacles. The computer vision system 140 coulduse object recognition, Structure From Motion (SFM), video tracking, andother algorithms used in computer vision, for instance, to recognizeobjects, map an environment, track objects, estimate the speed ofobjects, etc.

The navigation/pathing system 142 could be configured to determine adriving path for the vehicle 100. The navigation/pathing system 142 mayadditionally update the driving path dynamically while the vehicle 100is in operation. In some embodiments, the navigation/pathing system 142could incorporate data from the sensor fusion algorithm 138, the GPS122, and known maps so as to determine the driving path for vehicle 100.

The obstacle avoidance system 144 could represent a control systemconfigured to evaluate potential obstacles based on sensor data andcontrol the vehicle 100 to avoid or otherwise negotiate the potentialobstacles.

Various peripherals 108 could be included in vehicle 100. For example,peripherals 108 could include a wireless communication system 146, atouchscreen 148, a microphone 150, and/or a speaker 152. The peripherals108 could provide, for instance, means for a user of the vehicle 100 tointeract with the user interface 116. For example, the touchscreen 148could provide information to a user of vehicle 100. The user interface116 could also be operable to accept input from the user via thetouchscreen 148. In other instances, the peripherals 108 may providemeans for the vehicle 100 to communicate with devices within itsenvironment.

In one example, the wireless communication system 146 could beconfigured to wirelessly communicate with one or more devices directlyor via a communication network. For example, wireless communicationsystem 146 could use 3G cellular communication, such as CDMA, EVDO,GSM/GPRS, or 4G cellular communication, such as WiMAX or LTE.Alternatively, wireless communication system 146 could communicate witha wireless local area network (WLAN), for example, using WiFi. In someembodiments, wireless communication system 146 could communicatedirectly with a device, for example, using an infrared link, Bluetooth,or ZigBee. Other wireless protocols, such as various vehicularcommunication systems, are possible within the context of thedisclosure. For example, the wireless communication system 146 couldinclude one or more dedicated short range communications (DSRC) devicesthat could include public and/or private data communications betweenvehicles and/or roadside stations.

The power supply 110 may provide power to various components of vehicle100 and could represent, for example, a rechargeable lithium-ion orlead-acid battery. In an example embodiment, one or more banks of suchbatteries could be configured to provide electrical power. Other powersupply materials and types are possible. Depending upon the embodiment,the power supply 110, and energy source 119 could be integrated into asingle energy source, such as in some all-electric cars.

Many or all of the functions of vehicle 100 could be controlled bycomputer system 112. Computer system 112 may include at least oneprocessor 113 (which could include at least one microprocessor) thatexecutes instructions 115 stored in a non-transitory computer readablemedium, such as the data storage 114. The computer system 112 may alsorepresent a plurality of computing devices that may serve to controlindividual components or subsystems of the vehicle 100 in a distributedfashion.

In some embodiments, data storage 114 may contain instructions 115(e.g., program logic) executable by the processor 113 to execute variousfunctions of vehicle 100, including those described above in connectionwith FIG. 1. Data storage 114 may contain additional instructions aswell, including instructions to transmit data to, receive data from,interact with, and/or control one or more of the propulsion system 102,the sensor system 104, the control system 106, and the peripherals 108.

In addition to the instructions 115, the data storage 114 may store datasuch as roadway maps, path information, among other information. Suchinformation may be used by vehicle 100 and computer system 112 duringthe operation of the vehicle 100 in the autonomous, semi-autonomous,and/or manual modes.

The vehicle 100 may include a user interface 116 for providinginformation to or receiving input from a user of vehicle 100. The userinterface 116 could control or enable control of content and/or thelayout of interactive images that could be displayed on the touchscreen148. Further, the user interface 116 could include one or moreinput/output devices within the set of peripherals 108, such as thewireless communication system 146, the touchscreen 148, the microphone150, and the speaker 152.

The computer system 112 may control the function of the vehicle 100based on inputs received from various subsystems (e.g., propulsionsystem 102, sensor system 104, and control system 106), as well as fromthe user interface 116. For example, the computer system 112 may utilizeinput from the sensor system 104 in order to estimate the outputproduced by the propulsion system 102 and the control system 106.Depending upon the embodiment, the computer system 112 could be operableto monitor many aspects of the vehicle 100 and its subsystems. In someembodiments, the computer system 112 may disable some or all functionsof the vehicle 100 based on signals received from sensor system 104.

The components of vehicle 100 could be configured to work in aninterconnected fashion with other components within or outside theirrespective systems. For instance, in an example embodiment, the camera130 could capture a plurality of images that could represent informationabout a state of an environment of the vehicle 100 operating in anautonomous mode. The state of the environment could include parametersof the road on which the vehicle is operating. For example, the computervision system 140 may be able to recognize the slope (grade) or otherfeatures based on the plurality of images of a roadway. Additionally,the combination of Global Positioning System 122 and the featuresrecognized by the computer vision system 140 may be used with map datastored in the data storage 114 to determine specific road parameters.Further, the radar unit 126 may also provide information about thesurroundings of the vehicle.

In other words, a combination of various sensors (which could be termedinput-indication and output-indication sensors) and the computer system112 could interact to provide an indication of an input provided tocontrol a vehicle or an indication of the surroundings of a vehicle.

In some embodiments, the computer system 112 may make a determinationabout various objects based on data that is provided by systems otherthan the radio system. For example, the vehicle may have lasers or otheroptical sensors configured to sense objects in a field of view of thevehicle. The computer system 112 may use the outputs from the varioussensors to determine information about objects in a field of view of thevehicle. The computer system 112 may determine distance and directioninformation to the various objects. The computer system 112 may alsodetermine whether objects are desirable or undesirable based on theoutputs from the various sensors.

Although FIG. 1 shows various components of vehicle 100, i.e., wirelesscommunication system 146, computer system 112, data storage 114, anduser interface 116, as being integrated into the vehicle 100, one ormore of these components could be mounted or associated separately fromthe vehicle 100. For example, data storage 114 could, in part or infull, exist separate from the vehicle 100. Thus, the vehicle 100 couldbe provided in the form of device elements that may be locatedseparately or together. The device elements that make up vehicle 100could be communicatively coupled together in a wired and/or wirelessfashion.

FIG. 2 shows a vehicle 200 that could be similar or identical to vehicle100 described in reference to FIG. 1. Depending on the embodiment,vehicle 200 could include a sensor unit 202, a wireless communicationsystem 204, a radio unit 206, a laser rangefinder 208, and a camera 210.The elements of vehicle 200 could include some or all of the elementsdescribed for FIG. 1. Although vehicle 200 is illustrated in FIG. 2 as acar, other embodiments are possible. For instance, the vehicle 200 couldrepresent a truck, a van, a semi-trailer truck, a motorcycle, a golfcart, an off-road vehicle, or a farm vehicle, among other examples.

The sensor unit 202 could include one or more different sensorsconfigured to capture information about an environment of the vehicle200. For example, sensor unit 202 could include any combination ofcameras, radars, LIDARs, range finders, radio devices (e.g., Bluetoothand/or 802.11), and acoustic sensors. Other types of sensors arepossible. Depending on the embodiment, the sensor unit 202 could includeone or more movable mounts that could be operable to adjust theorientation of one or more sensors in the sensor unit 202. In oneembodiment, the movable mount could include a rotating platform thatcould scan sensors so as to obtain information from each directionaround the vehicle 200. In another embodiment, the movable mount of thesensor unit 202 could be moveable in a scanning fashion within aparticular range of angles and/or azimuths. The sensor unit 202 could bemounted atop the roof of a car, for instance, however other mountinglocations are possible. Additionally, the sensors of sensor unit 202could be distributed in different locations and need not be collocatedin a single location. Some possible sensor types and mounting locationsinclude radio unit 206 and laser range finder 208.

The wireless communication system 204 could be located as depicted inFIG. 2. Alternatively, the wireless communication system 204 could belocated, fully or in part, elsewhere. The wireless communication system204 may include wireless transmitters and receivers that could beconfigured to communicate with devices external or internal to thevehicle 200. Specifically, the wireless communication system 204 couldinclude transceivers configured to communicate with other vehiclesand/or computing devices, for instance, in a vehicular communicationsystem or a roadway station. Examples of such vehicular communicationsystems include dedicated short range communications (DSRC), radiofrequency identification (RFID), and other proposed communicationstandards directed towards intelligent transport systems.

The camera 210 could be mounted inside a front windshield of the vehicle200. The camera 210 could be configured to capture a plurality of imagesof the environment of the vehicle 200. Specifically, as illustrated, thecamera 210 could capture images from a forward-looking view with respectto the vehicle 200. Other mounting locations and viewing angles ofcamera 210 are possible. The camera 210 could represent one or morevisible light cameras. Alternatively or additionally, camera 210 couldinclude infrared sensing capabilities. The camera 210 could haveassociated optics that could be operable to provide an adjustable fieldof view. Further, the camera 210 could be mounted to vehicle 200 with amovable mount that could be operable to vary a pointing angle of thecamera 210.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method 300, according to an example embodiment.Method 300 shown in FIG. 3 presents an embodiment of a method that couldbe used with the vehicles 100-200, for example. Method 300 may includeone or more operations, functions, or actions as illustrated by one ormore of blocks 302-314. Although the blocks are illustrated in asequential order, these blocks may in some instances be performed inparallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein. Also,the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided intoadditional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.

In addition, for the method 300 and other processes and methodsdisclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of onepossible implementation of present embodiments. In this regard, eachblock may represent a module, a segment, a portion of a manufacturing oroperation process, or a portion of program code, which includes one ormore instructions executable by a processor for implementing specificlogical functions or steps in the process. The program code may bestored on any type of computer readable medium, for example, such as astorage device including a disk or hard drive. The computer readablemedium may include non-transitory computer readable medium, for example,such as computer-readable media that stores data for short periods oftime like register memory, processor cache and Random Access Memory(RAM). The computer readable medium may also include non-transitorymedia, such as secondary or persistent long term storage, like read onlymemory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks, compact-disc read only memory(CD-ROM), for example. The computer readable media may also be any othervolatile or non-volatile storage systems. The computer readable mediummay be considered a computer readable storage medium, for example, or atangible storage device.

In addition, for the method 300 and other processes and methodsdisclosed herein, each block in FIG. 3 may represent circuitry that iswired to perform the specific logical functions in the process.

At block 302, the method 300 includes a vehicle receiving one or moreimages of an environment of the vehicle. For example, a camera may beconfigured to capture still images and/or a video stream of theenvironment. In various embodiments, the vehicle may have more than onecamera positioned in different orientations. Additionally, in someexamples, the camera may be able to move to capture images and/or videoin different directions. The camera may be configured to store capturedimages and/or video to a memory for later processing by a processingsystem of the vehicle. Further, in some examples, the captured one ormore images may indicate a point of view of a driver of the vehicle.

Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments of the method 300,the vehicle may receive other sensor data indicating the environment.For example, the vehicle may have various sensors, including the camera,a radar unit, a laser range finder, a microphone, a radio unit, and/orother sensors. Each of these sensors may communicate data indicative ofthe environment to a processor in the vehicle.

In one example, a radar unit may be configured to transmit anelectromagnetic signal that will be reflected by various objects nearthe vehicle. The radar unit may then capture the reflectedelectromagnetic signals, and make various determinations about objectsthat reflected the electromagnetic signal. For example, the distance andposition to various reflected objects may be determined. The data fromthe radar unit may be used to augment and/or replace the one or moreimages captured by the camera as an indication of the environment. Forexample, a computer system included in the vehicle may process the datafrom the radar unit to generate the one or more images. Similarly, inanother example, a laser range finder (e.g., LIDAR) may be utilized toobtain information about the environment, such as velocity and positionof various objects in the environment, and the computer system mayprocess the data to generate the one or more images or augment the oneor more images from the camera.

In yet another example, a microphone may be configured to capture audioof the environment surrounding the vehicle. Sounds captured by themicrophone may include emergency vehicle sirens and/or the sounds ofother vehicles. A processing system may be able to identify the capturedsounds and augment the one or more images captured by the camera.

Thus, some embodiments may include combining data from various sensorssuch as a camera to receive one or more images indicating theenvironment of the vehicle.

At block 304, the method 300 includes the vehicle receiving a mapindicative of one or more features in the environment. For example, thevehicle may access a detailed map of the environment and/or a 3D modeldatabase that models the environment of the vehicle. For example, thedetailed map may include a street-view representation of a road wherethe vehicle is driving that includes various objects such as road signs,street lines, road separators, etc. In one example, the detailed map maybe implemented as a portion of a roadgraph that includes data such asintensity and/or elevation maps that describe the various objects in theroad. Such detailed map, for example, may be generated by a computingsystem based on high resolution data collected over a period of time,and may be stored in a data storage of the vehicle to facilitate therendering of the map at block 304. In another example, the map may be aportion of a 3D representation of the environment rendered based on a 3Dmodel database that models the environment of the vehicle. In someexamples, the detailed map may be generated based on satellite images orbird-view images of the road. The detailed map and/or the database maybe included in data storage accessible by a computer system of thevehicle, or may be in a remote server accessible via a network.

In one example, the vehicle may wirelessly communicate with a remoteserver and provide a position of the vehicle from various sensorsincluded in the vehicle such as a Global Positioning System (GPS)sensor. In response, the remote server may provide the map of theenvironment, such as a portion of a detailed map (e.g., roadgraph) ofthe environment around the vehicle at the identified position. Inanother example, the vehicle may obtain the map from a roadgraph storedin a memory that is included in the vehicle, and may identify the mapbased on the GPS sensor output.

In some examples, the map may include information about the environmentor the various objects in the environment. For example, the map mayinclude dimension information such as a size of various road signs, or awidth of the road that the vehicle is travelling on. Additionally, insome examples, the map may include other information that identifies theobjects in the environment of the vehicle, such as lighting conditionsor time of day. For example, the map may include shadows from thevarious objects or other relevant information that pertains to thelighting conditions.

At block 306, the method 300 includes matching at least one feature inthe one or more images with corresponding one or more features in themap. For example, various image processing techniques such as edgematching or feature tracking may be employed to match the features inthe images or video with corresponding features in the map. In oneexample, the one or more features may include various features thatpertain to the driving environment, such as street lines or road signs.

Additionally, in some examples, the vehicle may utilize otherinformation for the matching process. For example, the vehicle mayutilize the pointing angle of the camera that captured the one or moreimages and/or the position of the vehicle to identify the correspondingview of the environment in the map. Other sensor data may also beutilized to confirm or enhance the mapping of the features.

At block 308, the method 300 includes identifying a given area in theone or more images that corresponds to a a portion of the map that iswithin a threshold distance to the one or more features based on thematching.

Based on various configuration options of the camera that obtained theimages, for example, some areas of the one or more images may includedetails that are not relevant to the driving conditions of the vehicle.For example, objects in the sky such as birds or airplanes may not berelevant to the driving conditions but indicated in the one or moreimages. Thus, in some examples, the given area of the one or more imagesmay include the road that the vehicle is driving on and an immediatevicinity of the road that is relevant to the driving conditions of thevehicle. For example, the portion of the map may include 1 meter fromthe sides of the road and 2 meters above the road. Such portion of themap, for example, may include areas of interest that are relevant to thecurrent driving situation of the vehicle. Other example thresholddistances are possible. In this example, the vehicle may identify thegiven area in the one or more images that corresponds to the portion ofthe map based on the matching (e.g., calibration) between the one ormore images and the map at block 306.

In some examples, the threshold distance may be selected based oninformation in the map. In one example, lighting conditions in the oneor more images may be identified by comparing shadows in the one or moreimages with shadows in simulated lighting conditions of the map. Thus,in this example, the threshold distance may be selected to be largerduring night time than during day time. In another example, the map mayindicate that the vehicle is approaching a street cross-section, and thevehicle may then increase the threshold distance to include details inthe cross-section street.

In other examples, the threshold distance may be selected based oninstructions received from a remote assistance operator (e.g., humanoperator, remote computer system, etc.), or from a passenger of thevehicle. For example, the operator may select the various thresholddistances that the operator needs to analyze the driving situation ofthe vehicle, and provide operation instructions for the vehicle.Additionally, in some examples, the operator may select the camera thatprovides the one or more images and/or the video stream of theenvironment. Other methods are possible for the threshold distanceselection, such as configuration data stored in the vehicle.

In some examples, based on matching the features in the one or moreimages with the corresponding features in the map, the vehicle mayutilize details in the environment that are included in the map (e.g.,dimensions, locations, etc.) to define an area of interest (e.g., theportion of the map) that is relevant to the driving conditions of thevehicle. Thus, for example, the remote assistance operator may only needthe details in the given area of the one or more images to assist thevehicle in making an appropriate driving decision. In this example, thevehicle may associate the given area in the one or more images with thecorresponding portion of the map (e.g., area of interest).

Accordingly, at block 310, the method 300 includes the vehiclecompressing the one or more images to include a lower amount of detailsin areas of the one or more images other than the given area. Forexample, the given area may include more details, such as a higherresolution, than the other areas of the one or more images that are notrelevant to the driving situation of the vehicle. Various exampleprocesses may be performed by the method 300 to compress the one or moreimages as described are presented below.

In one example, the vehicle may alter the received one or more images byreplacing areas of the one or more images other than the given area witha given color. In turn, the altered images may then be compressed. Forexample, the other areas may be replaced by a uniform color (e.g.,black, grey, etc.) before applying a compression function (e.g., JPEG,VP8, etc.) to compress the one or more images. In this example, thecompression function may achieve a higher compression rate on the areaswith the uniform colors, thereby generating compressed images that havea smaller size than corresponding compressed images that do not replacethe other areas with the uniform color.

In another example, the vehicle may blur the areas of the one or moreimages other than the given area prior to compressing the one or moreimages. For example, the other areas may be blurred by an imageprocessing technique such as Gaussian smoothing to remove high-frequencycomponents of the other areas in the one or more images. Further, in theexample, a compression function may then be applied to the blurredimages to compress the one or more images. Again, in this example, thecompression function may achieve a higher compression rate on theblurred images than on an unaltered version of the one or more images.

In yet another example, the vehicle may compress an unaltered version ofthe received one or more images to generate one or more intermediateimages. The vehicle may then reduce an amount of details in areas of theintermediate images that correspond to areas of the received one or moreimages other than the given area. In turn, one or more final imageshaving the reduced amount of details may be provided as the compressedimages. For example, the intermediate images may be decoded (e.g.,Huffman decoding) and then the areas other than the given area in thedecoded images may then be degraded by removing high-frequency DCTcoefficients in the decoded images to provide the final images. Again,in this example, the final images may have a smaller size than theintermediate compressed images.

In the examples described above, other compression techniques arepossible with the altered, blurred, and/or the unaltered images. Forexample, lossless compression techniques such as run-length encoding,area image compression, differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM),entropy encoding, deflation, chain codes, etc. may be utilized.Additionally or alternatively, lossy compression techniques such aschroma subsampling, transform coding, fractal compression, etc. may alsobe utilized.

With the selective compression at block 310, the resulting compressedimages can have a smaller size than compressing unaltered images. Thesmaller size may be advantageous in some embodiments. For example, wherethe compressed images are transmitted over a wireless or wiredcommunication medium, bandwidth limitations and other data connectionlimitations may prohibit sending larger files reliably. For example, ifthe images or video stream are transmitted to a remote operator forfurther processing to assist the vehicle in making driving decisions,compressing the images as described may allow for reliably transmittingthe compressed images to the remote operator, while maintaining a largeramount of details in areas of interest (e.g., the given area) than otherirrelevant areas of the compressed images.

At block 312, the method 300 includes the vehicle providing thecompressed images to a remote system. Because detecting objects andevents in the environment of the vehicle can be important to theoperation of the vehicle, in some examples, the vehicle may provide thecompressed images to the remote system for further processing to assistthe vehicle in making a correct driving decision. In one example, theremote system may include a human operator that reviews the compressedimages. In turn, the human operator may detect an event that the vehicleis unable to determine, such as a person directing traffic. Thus, inthis example, the human operator may send instructions to the vehicle tofollow the traffic directions.

In another example, the vehicle may be unable to identify or classify adetected object in the environment. For example, a dog may be attemptingto cross the road that the vehicle is travelling on. In this example,the computer system may be unable to determine that the detected objectis a dog. However, for example, the remote system may include a morepowerful computer that has a database of images that include images ofdogs, and the remote system may confirm or identify the classificationof the detected object as a dog. Thus, for example, the remote systemmay send instructions to the vehicle to slow down or change lanes toavoid colliding with the dog.

At block 314, the method 300 includes receiving operation instructionsfor the vehicle from the remote system responsive to providing thecompressed images. In one example, the remote system may include a humanoperator that analyzes the compressed images to provide the operationinstructions. In another example, the remote system may include a morepowerful computer system that can analyze the compressed images andprovide the operation instructions.

FIG. 4A illustrates a map 400 of an environment, according to an exampleembodiment. The map 400 may indicate various features in the environmentof a vehicle, such as the vehicle described in the method 300. Forexample, a view of the environment in FIG. 4A may correspond to a“forward” view of the vehicle. In some examples, other views of the map400 are possible, such as a “side” view, a “rear” view, or a view fromany other angle. Thus, for example, the map 400 may indicate variousviews of the environment of the vehicle. For example, the map 400 may beimplemented as a 3D representation of the environment from a particularviewing angle. Additionally, in some examples, the map 400 may indicatea view of the environment at a particular location. For example, theview illustrated in FIG. 4A may be from a location along a road thatcorresponds to particular coordinates. Thus, an example system thatincludes a detailed map of the road (e.g., roadgraph) may receive theparticular coordinates and render the map 400 for use by the vehicle. Inone example, the example system may include a road map with associatedstreet views (e.g., bird-eye views, satellite images, etc.) along theroad map that can be utilized by the system to render the map 400.Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the map 400 may includeadditional data such as intensity and/or elevation maps that indicatethe various features in the road. For example, the map 400 may beimplemented as a symbolic representation of the data pertaining to thevarious features that is accessible by the vehicle to identify locationsand dimensions of the various features.

The map 400 includes various features such as a road sign 402, lanelines 404-408, right perimeter 410, and left perimeter 412. In someexamples, other features may be included in the map 400 such as streetlights or street intersections. Additionally or alternatively, in someexamples, other features next to the right perimeter 410 or the leftperimeter 412 may be included in the map 400, such as bus stop signs,buildings, trees, or other features that may help identify theenvironment.

Additionally, the map 400 may include other information such asdimension information of the view indicated by the map 400. For example,the map 400 may include data that indicates a distance between the rightperimeter 410 and the left perimeter 412, or a distance between the laneline 404 and the lane line 406. Further, for example, the data mayindicate the dimensions of the road sign 402 and the relative distancesbetween the various features in the map 400.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 4A, in some examples, additionalinformation may be included in the map 400. For example, lightingconditions of the road may be indicated in the map 400. In one example,the road sign 402 may have a shadow that indicates the direction oflight from the sun. Thus, for example, a time of day may be determinedfrom the information in the map 400. Referring back to the method 300,for example, various views from the map 400 may be matched with the oneor more images from a camera coupled to a vehicle to determine the timeof day, and thereby select the threshold distance.

FIG. 4B illustrates a portion 420 of the map 400 of FIG. 4A. The portion420 may be within a threshold distance 422 to one or more features ofthe map 400. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, the portion 420 maybe within the threshold distance 422 from the right perimeter 410 and/orthe left perimeter 412. In some examples, multiple threshold distancesmay define the portion 420. For example, a first threshold distance(e.g., 1 meter) can be selected from the right perimeter 410 and theleft perimeter 412. Further, in this example, a second thresholddistance (e.g., 2 meters) can be selected from the line lanes 404-408 orfrom the road sign 402. Other threshold distance combinations arepossible.

In some examples, the threshold distance 422 can be selected by a remotevehicle assistance operator, as described in the method 300. Forexample, a human operator or a passenger in the vehicle of the method300 may select one or more threshold distances that define the portion420. In an example scenario of the method 300, the remote system mayview part of a video stream from the vehicle that includes compressedimages, and then send instructions to the vehicle to adjust thethreshold distance 422 to include more details or otherwise adjust theportion 420. Thus, for example, after matching features between imagesand the map 400 as described in the method 300, the threshold distance422 can be selected to define the portion 420 of the map 400 thatcorresponds to the given area of the images that have a higher amount ofdetails than other areas when compressing the images.

FIG. 5A illustrates an image 500 captured by a camera coupled to avehicle, according to an example embodiment. The image 500 may be one ofthe one or more images received by the vehicle of the method 300. Forexample, the camera may be mounted on top of the vehicle and configuredto capture the image 500 of the “forward” view of an environment of thevehicle. Other views are also possible. Thus, the image 500 may includevarious features in the environment of the vehicle, such as road sign502, street lanes 504-508, pavement 510, and road separator 512. Theimage 500 may also include other features along the road, such as cars514-518. Further, the image 500 may include features such as cars522-524 that are traveling along an opposite direction to the directionof the vehicle that captured the image 500. Additionally, the image 500may include features in the environment above the vehicle, such asairplane 526, cloud 528, and bird 530. The image 500 may also includefeatures on the side of the road, such as bus stop 532, pedestrian 534,dog 536, car 538, driveway 540, buildings 542, and trees 544-550.

When compressing an unaltered version of the image 500 for transmissionto a remote system as described in the method 300, the resultingcompressed image may have a large file size due to the many featuresincluded in the image 500. Transmitting the large compressed image via awired or wireless data connection to the remote system may be prohibitedby bandwidth limitations or other data connection limitations.

Further, the remote system may only need a portion of the image 500 thatis relevant to the driving situation of the vehicle to assist thevehicle in making driving decisions. For example, features along theroad such as cars 514-518 and/or cars 522/524 may be useful in analyzingthe driving situation and providing operation instructions for thevehicle. For example, the remote system and/or a human operator mayanalyze the image 500 and instruct the vehicle not to change lanes intoa lane occupied by the cars 522-524 travelling in the opposite directionof the road. Additionally, in some examples, features in the immediatevicinity, such as pedestrian 534, dog 536, and/or the car 538 may alsobe useful for the remote system. For example, the remote system mayinstruct the vehicle to change lanes away from the right lane nearest tothe pedestrian 534 or the dog 534 to avoid collision. In anotherexample, the vehicle may be unable to classify the car 538 due to theunusual orientation of the car 538 pulling out of the driveway 540. Inthis example, the remote system may analyze the image 500 and detectthat the car 538 is pulling out of the driveway 540, and then instructthe vehicle to switch to another lane.

However, in some examples, some of the features in the image 500 such asairplane 526, cloud 528, bird 530, buildings 542, and/or trees 544-550may include a large amount of details that are unnecessary for theremote system to assist the vehicle. In one example, the buildings 542may include a large amount of details in the image such as windowfeatures. In another example, the trees 544-546 may be continuouslymoving due to environmental factors, and thus a video stream of imagesthat include the image 500 may have a large size when compressed by avideo compression function. In yet another example, the airplane 526,the cloud 528, and/or the bird 530 may be irrelevant to the drivingsituation of the vehicle, and thus providing detailed features of theairplane 526, the cloud 528, and/or the bird 530 may unnecessarilyincrease the size of the compressed image.

Thus, in some examples, a system in the present disclosure may reducethe amount of details in the irrelevant areas of the image 500 beforetransmitting the image 500 to the remote system for further processing.However, for example, the image 500 may not include depth information ordimension information of the features in the image 500. Thus, therelevant area that includes the road and the immediate vicinity may bedifficult to identify based on the image 500 alone. For example, a pixelin the image 500 near the road sign 502 may correspond to a smaller areain the environment than a pixel in the image 500 near the car 516.

To facilitate identifying the area of the image 500 that is relevant tothe driving situation of the vehicle, in some examples, the vehicle maymatch at least one feature in the image 500 with corresponding one ormore features in a detailed map of the environment (e.g., roadgraph, 3Drepresentation, etc.). For example, the map 400 of FIGS. 4A-4B may beutilized by the vehicle to match various features such as the road sign502, the street lanes 504-508, the pavement 510, and/or the roadseparator 512, respectively, with the road sign 402, the street lanes404-408, the right perimeter 410, and/or the left perimeter 412 of themap 400. In turn, for example, a given area of the image 500 can beselected to correspond to the portion 420 of the map 400 that includesfeatures on the road and the immediate vicinity of the road as definedby the threshold distance 422 of the map 400. Further, in this example,the image 500 may then be compressed to include a lower amount ofdetails in the areas of the image 500 other than the given area. Inturn, for example, the compressed images may have a smaller size tocomply with bandwidth limitations when transmitting the compressedimages to the remote system for further processing. Various embodimentsfor reducing the amount of details in areas other than the given areaare illustrated in FIGS. 5B-5C.

FIG. 5B illustrates a compressed image 560, according to an exampleembodiment. The compressed image 560 may be generated by the vehicle ofthe method 300, for example, to include a lower amount of details inareas 521 other than a given area 520. It is noted that the shape of thegiven area 520 as illustrated in FIG. 5B may be different in variousembodiments. Thus, for example, the shape of the given area 520 may bebased on the threshold distance selected to describe an area of interestin the image 500 of FIG. 5A that may include the road that the vehicleis travelling on and the immediate vicinity of the road.

As illustrated in FIG. 5B, details of features in the image 500 thatcorrespond to the given area 520 are preserved in the compressed image560. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, other areas 521 may be replacedwith a given color prior to compressing the image 500 into thecompressed image 560. In this example, replacing the other areas 521with a uniform color may allow compression at a higher compression ratethan compressing an unaltered version of the image 500.

Further, for example, features relevant to the driving situation of thevehicle, such as cars 514-518, cars 522-524, pedestrian 534, dog 536,and/or car 538 are still viewable in the compressed image 560.Additionally, for example, other irrelevant features of the image 500such as airplane 526, cloud 528, bird 530, and trees 546-550 are omittedfrom the compressed image 560 to allow for a higher compression rate.While some of the irrelevant features of the image 500 such as part ofthe building 542 and the tree 544 are still present in the compressedimage 560, for example, these features are within the immediate vicinityof the road and are still significantly reduced to allow for a highercompression rate.

FIG. 5C illustrates another compressed image 570, according to anexample embodiment. FIG. 5C illustrates another embodiment for reducingthe amount of features in the areas 521 other than the given area 520.As illustrated in FIG. 5C, for example, features such as windows of theairplane 526, windows in some of the buildings 542, feathers of the bird530, leaves of the trees 546-550, and/or features in the side door ofthe car 538 are less clear in the compressed image 570 than in theoriginal image 500. However, in some examples, these blurred featuresmay not be necessary for the remote system of the method 300 to analyzethe driving situation of the vehicle.

Further, compressing the image 500 with such blurred features will allowfor a higher compression rate than compressing an unaltered version ofthe image 500. Thus, for example, the compressed image 570 may have asmaller size for transmission to the remote system than a size of acompressed image of the unaltered image 500.

In some examples, blurring the features in the areas 521 may beperformed by an imaging technique such as Gaussian smoothing. In otherexamples, blurring the features may be performed after compression ofthe image 500. For example, an intermediate compressed image of theunaltered image 500 may be generated by the vehicle. In this example,the intermediate image may then be decoded (e.g., Huffman decoding) andthe areas of the intermediate image that correspond to the areas 521 canbe degraded by removing high-frequency DCT coefficients from the decodedimage. The resulting final image in this example may have a smaller sizethan the intermediate compressed image.

FIG. 6 depicts an example computer readable medium configured accordingto an example embodiment. In example embodiments, an example system mayinclude one or more processors, one or more forms of memory, one or moreinput devices/interfaces, one or more output devices/interfaces, andmachine readable instructions that when executed by the one or moreprocessors cause the system to carry out the various functions tasks,capabilities, etc., described above.

As noted above, in some embodiments, the disclosed techniques (e.g.method 300) may be implemented by computer program instructions encodedon a computer readable storage media in a machine-readable format, or onother media or articles of manufacture (e.g., the instructions 115 ofthe system 100). FIG. 6 is a schematic illustrating a conceptual partialview of an example computer program product that includes a computerprogram for executing a computer process on a computing device, arrangedaccording to at least some embodiments disclosed herein.

In one embodiment, the example computer program product 600 is providedusing a signal bearing medium 602. The signal bearing medium 602 mayinclude one or more programming instructions 604 that, when executed byone or more processors may provide functionality or portions of thefunctionality described above with respect to FIGS. 1-5. In someexamples, the signal bearing medium 602 may be a computer-readablemedium 606, such as, but not limited to, a hard disk drive, a CompactDisc (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, memory, etc. Insome implementations, the signal bearing medium 602 may be a computerrecordable medium 608, such as, but not limited to, memory, read/write(R/W) CDs, R/W DVDs, etc. In some implementations, the signal bearingmedium 602 may be a communication medium 610 (e.g., a fiber optic cable,a waveguide, a wired communications link, etc.). Thus, for example, thesignal bearing medium 602 may be conveyed by a wireless form of thecommunications medium 610.

The one or more programming instructions 604 may be, for example,computer executable and/or logic implemented instructions. In someexamples, a computing device may be configured to provide variousoperations, functions, or actions in response to the programminginstructions 604 conveyed to the computing device by one or more of thecomputer readable medium 606, the computer recordable medium 608, and/orthe communications medium 610.

The computer readable medium 606 may also be distributed among multipledata storage elements, which could be remotely located from each other.The computing device that executes some or all of the storedinstructions could be an external computer, or a mobile computingplatform, such as a smartphone, tablet device, personal computer,wearable device, etc. Alternatively, the computing device that executessome or all of the stored instructions could be remotely locatedcomputer system, such as a server.

It should be understood that arrangements described herein are forpurposes of example only. As such, those skilled in the art willappreciate that other arrangements and other elements (e.g. machines,interfaces, functions, orders, and groupings of functions, etc.) can beused instead, and some elements may be omitted altogether according tothe desired results. Further, many of the elements that are describedare functional entities that may be implemented as discrete ordistributed components or in conjunction with other components, in anysuitable combination and location, or other structural elementsdescribed as independent structures may be combined.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopebeing indicated by the following claims, along with the full scope ofequivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is also to beunderstood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescribing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to belimiting.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a vehicle, animage of an environment of the vehicle; defining, by the vehicle, anarea of interest within the image that is relevant to driving conditionsof the vehicle; compressing, by the vehicle, the image to include alower amount of detail in areas of the image other than the defined areaof interest; providing, by the vehicle, the compressed image to a remotesystem; and responsive to providing the compressed image, receivingoperation instructions for the vehicle from the remote system.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: altering the received image byreplacing areas of the image other than the defined area of interestwith a given color, wherein compressing the image comprises compressingthe altered image.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:blurring, by the vehicle, areas of the image other than the defined areaof interest, wherein compressing the image comprises compressing theblurred image.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:compressing, by the vehicle, an unaltered version of the received imageto generate an intermediate image; and reducing, by the vehicle, anamount of details in areas of the intermediate image that correspond toareas of the received image other than the defined area of interest,wherein compressing the image comprises providing a final image havingthe reduced amount of details.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein theimage is indicative of a video stream from a camera coupled to thevehicle.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by thevehicle from the remote system, configuration data indicative of athreshold distance, wherein the area of interest within the image isdefined based on the threshold distance.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein receiving the operation instructions comprises receiving aninput from a human operator.
 8. A vehicle comprising: a cameraconfigured to capture an image of an environment of the vehicle; one ormore processors; and data storage configured to store instructionsexecutable by the one or more processors to cause the vehicle to: obtainthe image from the camera; define an area of interest within the imagethat is relevant to driving conditions of the vehicle; compress theimage to include a lower amount of detail in areas of the image otherthan the defined area of interest; provide the compressed image to aremote system; and responsive to providing the compressed image, receiveoperation instructions for the vehicle from the remote system.
 9. Thevehicle of claim 8, wherein the instructions executable by the one ormore processors further cause the vehicle to: alter the received imageby replacing areas of the image other than the defined area of interestwith a given color, wherein compressing the image comprises compressingthe altered image.
 10. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the instructionsexecutable by the one or more processors further cause the vehicle to:blur areas of the image other than the defined area of interest, whereincompressing the image comprises compressing the blurred image.
 11. Thevehicle of claim 8, wherein the instructions executable by the one ormore processors further cause the vehicle to: compress an unalteredversion of the received image to generate an intermediate image; andreduce an amount of details in areas of the intermediate image thatcorrespond to areas of the received image other than the defined area ofinterest, wherein compressing the image comprises providing a finalimage having the reduced amount of details.
 12. The vehicle of claim 8,wherein the image is indicative of a video stream from the camera. 13.The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the instructions executable by the oneor more processors further cause the vehicle to: receive, from theremote system, configuration data indicative of a threshold distance,wherein the area of interest within the image is defined based on thethreshold distance.
 14. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein receiving theoperation instructions comprises receiving an input from a humanoperator.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having storedtherein instructions, that when executed by a device, cause the deviceto perform functions, the functions comprising: receiving an image of anenvironment of the device; defining an area of interest within the imagethat is relevant to driving conditions; compressing the image to includea lower amount of detail in areas of the image other than the definedarea of interest; providing the compressed image to a remote system; andresponsive to providing the compressed image, receiving operationinstructions for the device from the remote system.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the functionsfurther comprising: altering the received image by replacing areas ofthe image other than the defined area of interest with a given color,wherein compressing the image comprises compressing the altered image.17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, thefunctions further comprising: blurring areas of the image other than thedefined area of interest, wherein compressing the image comprisescompressing the blurred image.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 15, the functions further comprising: compressing anunaltered version of the received image to generate an intermediateimage; and reducing an amount of details in areas of the intermediateimage that correspond to areas of the received image other than thedefined area of interest, wherein compressing the image comprisesproviding a final image having the reduced amount of details.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the imageis indicative of a video stream from a camera coupled to the device. 20.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the functionsfurther comprising: receiving, from the remote system, configurationdata indicative of a threshold distance, wherein the area of interestwithin the image is defined based on the threshold distance.